Dream 13 Daily Journal 3/15/10

Daily Journal 3/15

So I can honestly say today has been the best so far. It’s started with the usually coffee with Mach’s(Maha’s) dad. Celina had went earlier to train in Tokyo with Roxanne so it was only Joachim and myself. So we ventured off again for some food. After eating we were planning on training.

So we got back and figured we’d relax for awhile, check email, and maybe rest. Well since Ibaraki is so quiet and the gym is closed on Mondays it was real relaxing. Since I don’t have a tv in my room to distract me I just did some stretching, and made some calls. I don’t really get this kind of alone time back home.

Well 11am rolled around pretty quick and Joachim felt like training, so we did. We got some good rounds in again today. I’m not going into any details but I learned a lot of great things. At some points I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to be here. Sounds strange but it often occured while I was getting punched in the face. Some might hate the fact that they have to go round after round with one of the best fighters in the world but what more could I ask for. I’m getting to learn what works, and getting the reinforcement on what doesn’t first hand with a fist in my face. Joachim even held mitts for me after and gave me priceless tips to fight his style. With his help I got much better each round.

After training we went to the coin laundry to wash some clothes. We then went next door and got some cakes. They were just the right size with just enough sugar. While the clothes were washing we found an Udon shop for lunch. On the way I got to practice some japan-lish. It didn’t go so well cuz the old lady thought I wanted to go to the train station. It went like this – Sumimasen, Resturauntu wa doko desu ka? I thought it was pretty good, but she practically walked me to the ticket machine to catch a train. Maybe she just wanted me to leave Ibaraki. hahaha.

After eating we went back, and dried the clothes. For the next hour we had some cool conversations about philosophy, politics, life, training, fighting, the MMA industry, and I got notes on a detailed weight lifting routine. Joachim then went to the train station to pick up Celina, and I headed home.

Ibaraki is a pretty flat place with very few landmarks to use for direction. So walking home at night was quite an adventure. I really only had to walk maybe on 5 or 6 blocks, but everything looked the same, and from a different perspective very different. My mind kinda played tricks on me telling me to turn back, and at that moment I saw the railroad tracks I’ve been crossing the last few days. So I walked on, and thought well the railroad must have multiple crossing points. Right when I was gonna turn back I looked up and saw the Mach Dojo sign 5 feet in front of me. I was glad I made it.

Joachim, and Celina arrived shortly after. They both got massages from Akira’s dad that use to work on a lot of K-1 fighters. Both of them look really good for their upcoming bouts. A lot of their daily routines remind me of home. After that I pretty much just ate one more time, took my suppliments, and got ready for bed.

Dream 13 Daily Journal 3/13/10

Daily Journal

3/13 – arrived in NRT airport after flying for 12 hours. It took me a while to get through immigration, and customs. I was them met outside by a tall Australian fellow by the name of Sean Few. Both of us where worried about how we’d meet up since we had never met before. Sure enough, he picked me out of the crowd, and we started running for our train. We had to time it right or we’d be waiting for 30 minutes at the next stop. So while running he mentioned that he looked up my picture on facebook in order to recognize me. Thank god for that or we might have never connected. He also mentioned that he’s the striking coach for Miyata (K-1) fighter.

Well we eventually did make it on to the train, and then misses another at a transfer down the line. Now if you ever experienced public transportation you how offsetting it can be. Long story short we got to where we needed to be only 15 min late. We then hopped into the van and headed Mach (pronounced Ma-Ha) Dojo.

As soon as we got out we where greated by Mach’s wife, father, and friend. Then from a distance I saw a light when a door opened. In the doorway was Joachim, and his girl friend Celina. Celina is also an MMA fighter that is here to fight in Jewels on 3/19/10. It was good to see Joachim. He’s looking like himself and still really f’n strong at 65kg. A few weeks ago we exchanged emails about dieting, and increasing fiber. He said after only 3 days he dropped a lot of weight and got shreaded up, not loosing any strength.

Celine was then getting a message, and Joachim and I started horsing around. He showed me some very good “Top Secret” techniques from the clinch, and started describing his training methods. It really inspired me, and made feel so validated on making this trip. Joachim is a timeless individual. No matter if today, or 500 years ago he’d be the same person. It’s great too, when you see a friend that you haven’t seen over a year, but it feels like no time has passed. Joachim is the truest Champion I have ever met, regardless if he has a belt or not.

I’ll post something new tomorrow. Sorry for any grammar mistakes. I’m just jotting stuff down.

I <3 Guam!

I <3 Guam!

Shoyoroll All-Island Championship
Guam 2009

As I'm sitting in the Narita Airport during a nine hour lay over on my way back home I'm going to write this blog on my iPhone while the memories are fresh in my mind, and with hopes that it'll help me NOT forget any part of it. There are so many ways to write this, but I'm not a professional journalist so I think that the best way is from the heart. So sorry if it seems scattered, and has a bunch of run-on, or incomplete sentences. I want to start by thanking the Spike 22 boys, the Carlson Gracie Team, Wayne, Char, Uncle Frank, Danielle, Roman, and Shoyoroll of course.

THE MISSION

This trip to me was everything Jiu-Jitsu has to offer. I got to meet great people and get to know others better. I feel like it recharged my soul. I don't expect everyone to get this but it wasn't about wins, losses, giving, and taking, but about the experience, and doing things for the love. I have to say that this has been one of the most memorable trips of my life.

From when Bear first hit me up to go I just couldn't refuse, and in fact the offer came to me when I needed it most in my life. I just needed to be excited about something again. On top of going to Guam, I really wanted to go back to Japan even if it was just for a lay over. I initially wanted to try and extend my lay over to visit friends at AACC but there isn't always enough time to do everything we want, and plus the days I spent in Guam provided more than enough enjoyment.

I have to admit that even though the trip had a lot of work, like reffin' 8 hours, then having a super fight (Jiu-Jitsu match) which I lost, and teaching classes, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Not only because it was fun, but because it does a lot for jiu-jitsu on Guam, and I want to give back to Jiu-jitsu for offering so much to me. Plus, because Shoyoroll has had my back whether competing in small tournaments, winning World Championships, fighting in Dream, or most importantly when I hit rock bottom sitting in my underwear with a bottle of Jack, in a New Jersey hotel room making death threats to Sim Go over the phone after he won the '06 ADCC Trials, but that's another story.

Well, this was the latest of many adventures with my good friend Johnny Ramirez (also the fucker that I had to compete against). We first met when I was Blue Belt at the '05 ADCC through John Ouano, and it seems like we've been stuck around each other ever since. Well after the tournament was over, we got to kick back and enjoy the island a lot more.

THE TRAINING

While I was having a blast at Melchor's Spike 22 in Tumon, with Mike, Joey, Justin Cruz, Baby Joe, Eli, Jesse Taitino, and the rest of the beasts over there, Johnny was teaching at the Carlson Gracie Team Academy hosted by Gabe. They have a lot of the tournament stand outs like Cameron (the dude is 16, had 15 matches, 4 different div., and won the quickest sub award!), Beaner, Skyylar, Al, John Tuck, John, Miguel, Dianna, Mike, and plenty more to mention (but like I said I'm typing on an iPhone, gimme a break).

Gabe's team has great talent, but most importantly a great energy between it's members. These guys are so close, and I think that's the biggest part of their success. Most of them are under 20 and remind me why I still do this. The young guys are the future of our art, and I really look forward to the day I read about their exploits on websites, and hopefully one day see them on the cover of a magazine.

Now back to Spike 22. The only way I can describe these guys is they're F'n down. If you wanna know what a real fighter looks like just open that steel door above the parking garage, next to the gun club, and that's all you'll see with the sound of heavy gun fire in the background. They train hard both technically, and physically.

I first got exposed to them sometime late last year around Sept, or Oct. Baby Joe, and The Shocker were just passing through the bay, and Justin decided to stay for a few weeks. Man, this guy's enthusiasm about training, and fighting is what really motivated me for my last fight in Nov '08. Just having him around made me wanna work just as hard. Being around him, Baby Joe, Jesse T, and Melchor now has the same exact effect it did a year ago. Mix this with the inspiration from Gabe's team, and you can imagine how drivin' I feel right now. I can't waste it!

THE FAMILIES

One of the most beautiful things about Guam are the families. Family is one of the most important things to me, and so when I travel even if I'm not with my own, I crave to be around others. Eli was nice enough to invite me up to his place to watch the UFC, and I got to see how close the different generations of his family are, and I was really impressed as three generations all cheered together for BJ Penn to beat Diego Sanchez. I couldn't tell if it was Eli's sisters, Eli, or myself that screamed like a little girl when BJ knocked Diego down in the openning moments of the fight (it was Eli, we all know how excited those Peurto Ricans get!)

So after that I got to go to Wayne, and Char's baby shower. They are due pretty soon, and I'm sure that their beautiful baby girl is gonna grow up perfect with the family I saw there. I'll start with Willard's side. I can see why he's such a good guy, with a role model like his dad. I only got to meet him once, and it left quite an impression. It's good to know that people like him still exist, you can just tell he's a stand up guy when you shake his hand. According to Wayne if you get out of line you can count on a big slap to the face, and heavy low kick combo from the veteran Kyokushin Black Belt. He's known to run out in front of cars that speed down his block to yell at the driver "What's wrong with you? Don't you know there are kids playing on this street!" Now, if that's not admirable I don't know what is. On top of that when Wayne took me to his father's home, Wayne's beautiful step mom taught me about local plants, and gave me the chance to try things like local bananas, young coconut, the best coconut juice ever, and something called beeter nut (might be a misspelling or wrong name, sorry) that tasted like bitter dirt, but gave me a decent buzz. I had to try it twice until I got the effect, but respectfully asked to spit it out. To be honest that was one of the best parts.

Now, on to Char(sounds like Shar), and her mom. I just want to add that pregnant women are probably the one thing I admire most, but never want to be. It's so amazing to see the glow they have even up to moments before delivery. (That's it, not during delivery. I'd rather get punched in the face for 15 min before seeing that again. Hahaha) Well, onto her mom. She seems like a really fun person. She's a great dancer, and can rock the hell out of a skirt! She kinda reminds me of my Auntie Brownie. I wish them the best.

THE FRIENDS

Since Bear knew I didn't know anyone in Guam, he had is friend Danielle give me a call to show me around a bit, and introduce me to a few good people. Through her I met Shane, Howard, and Roman from Fokai. It was funny cuz she happened to be Wayne's cuzzo, and Howard is my friend Chris's cuz too, but this happens a lot in GU. Well long story short she's kinda like the embassador of Guam, and knows all the chill spots with the more laid back crowd. It's funny cuz trying to meet up with her and the guys one night is how I learned to navigate around the island using K Mart, and the ITC building as my main landmarks. The first night they took me to Bully's, and on the last night we chilled at Casa. Both places had live music, and artists playing cover songs. We tried to make plans to go surfing. She rides a longboard, the guys stand up paddle board, and Roman also DK bodyboards, but due to time constraints it never happened. Well, I guess it gives me more to look forward to next time. I think I'll rent a SUP when I get home.

THE LAST DAY

These days always weigh heavy on my heart. The first thing I did that morning was go for a 20min swim at the beach infront of our hotel. I wasn't sure if I was gonna get to surf or bb this trip, but it was torture to not get in the water once. I actually went to pick up a rock that was really a sea cucumber, and freaked out. I think the Japanese tourists got a big laugh out of that. Then I jammed to Spike for the last day of training. Justin is fighting Imanari this weekend so I've been trying to do my best impression while sparring with him. Good luck by the way Justin! Then Migs from Carlson's Team came by and rolled with Wayne, Mike, Eli, and myself. This was a big goal of our trip to get the locals to train together regularly, and I think it was a big deal for Miguel to come by.
We then headed to the Fokai shop to get some souveniers, and luckily saw Roman before leaving. Thanks for the gifts Roman!

BOAT BASIN

Wayne, and Gabe planned for us to lap the island on our last day. So we all met at Boat Basin. I got to paddle out with Migs, and Mike. This really made my trip. It was a small choppy day but I was still pretty nervous. Both the rocks, and reef are sharp. Plus, it was pretty shallow. I almost pussed out but I had to do it. We paddled out through the channel, and decided to surf the break on the right. It wasn't as heavy as I thought but I still didn't want to let loosing some skin ruin my day so I just tried to work the shoulder. It might have been small but I was still stoked. After catching a wave, I started to paddle back out, and felt the reef about 1-2 feet below me. I never paddled back out so quick in my life. I just thought "don't drag your nuts, or face on the reef". The guys on the beach were getting a little restless so we just stayed in for maybe only 40 min.

THE LAP

After that, all the guys were there, and we headed south. We stopped at a look out by Mt. Lam Lam, and another one by Umantic ( I know I'm misspelling it, sorry). We saw the towers, took pictures with the caribou, and saw Magellan's landing. We also passed Howard's property, Bear Rock, Turtle Rock, and saw the man made pools that use ocean water. We wanted to eat at Pirates Cove but it was closed. Instead we just ate dried mango, pickled papaya, and drank King Kar Iced Tea while enjoying each others company. I had a great time!

FAREWELL

The trip around the island kinda took longer than we thought, so I didn't get to say the goodbyes I wanted to. I think it's for the best because I have every intention to see everybody soon. It looks like maybe February, but definitely during this coming summer. Until then I'm sure I'll think about Guam daily, and keep it close to my heart.

Shoot,
BC

REAL Nike 10AC Rejuven8′s

Receiving my actual first pair of Nike 10AC Rejuven8′s directly from Caol Uno’s hands. LEGEN-Wait for it, hope your not lactose intolerant-DAIRY!!!

My path to Black Belt – Part 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  So I’ve been really thinking a lot about this and have been wanting to put down all the details that have led up to becoming a Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. Many of my FTCC teammates have asked me things like, “how long did it take”, “why did it take so long”, “what did it change”, and “what did you have to do”,etc… I will share what motivated me to do so, and what will drive me in the future. I also wanted to clear somethings up, and express my feelings as I was going through everything. It’s so hard because it’s a very long story, and my views have changed many times during this experience and, I’m sure that they are going to continue to change. So hold on because this will be a long blog with many grammatical errors, and might have to be spread out into multiple posts.

  I’ll start from the beginning, I started training at Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy mid-March of 1999. It was after my son Sean’s first birthday that my friend Nick brought me in to check it out. The place had been open for roughly 6 months, so they had some pretty tough white belts. To name a few, Luke Stewart, Crazy Pete Doyle, Shingo, Yuji, Aaron Ard, Ken Avery, and even Gabe Rudiger. We were all students of a then Brown Belt Kurt Osiander. On my first night there Kurt said something that would stick with me for the rest of my life “You will be a champion one day, I guarantee it”. Within 3 months I went on to win my first tournament beating several guys from tough camps like BJ Penn’s, and Rickson Gracie’s Academies. BJ even went to Kurt and said he felt sorry for me cus his guy had “nuts guard”, and was a blue belt doing the white belt division. Looking back I was so scared, but Ralph said something so simple “Believe, BC”. I still have the old pictures, and VHS footage of Ralph, and Kurt coaching me while I smashed these guys with Legends the other corner, and I didn’t give up one point. Little did I know what this would lead to, and that I would have a bond with these people for as long as I live.

  I then eventually got promoted to Blue Belt after 11 months and winning several tournaments. I remember thinking to myself that I could die happy being a Ralph Gracie Blue Belt. I loved this time of my life so much because I was in the gym on average 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. Everyone practically lived there because we were so competitive with each other that we didn’t want to get edged out by someone else on the team. I have to say i was always the smallest guy in the room, so you can only imagine the challenges I faced everyday. This made us so tough. I remember Brown and Black Belts visiting from other schools getting tapped regularly from the Blues. It was insane,and this is when the RG Team got the reputation for being insane.

  We only had a few unspoken rules back then that made us train like mad men. If you were injured, tape it. If you were bleeding, put vaseline or glue it. The most emphasized one that I think changed the team forever was, If you leave don’t come back. We didn’t know any better, we were so young. All we did was eat, and sleep Jiu-Jitsu. The dot com boom died, people went back to school, got older, and people needed to make money to survive. Instead of just being honest people started lying, which led to distrust, and a lot of fall out. Our right wing philosophy that made us invincible also broke us apart.

  During this period I went back to school, started wrestling, and was working part time jobs to work off my credit card debt. Credit card debt from paying for BJJ lessons. Then one day I get a call from Ralph offering me a fight in Japan’s new organization at the time DEEP. On 2 weeks notice I quit my job, and went from there. This was perfect timing because I needed exactly $3000 more dollars to pay for my wedding. My generous uncle offered to pay for it, but if I had an opportunity to do it myself then I had to take it. I ended up winning a unanimous decision against Ramba Somdet. This gave me a little bit of a name in MMA that would be rarely heard about. DEEP wouldn’t return any of inquiries for another fight, and all I got were offers to fight in KOTC and WEC for several hundred dollars. It was never that money motivated me but I couldn’t afford to get injured because I now had 2 kids, and a wife to take care of.

  Between 2002 to 2005, I worked at Fairtex and was a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at Skyline College, and South City HS. This was the hardest point in my life. I so dearly wanted to get back to training with the old guys, but every time I went in there, there was somebody talking shit that didn’t even know me, and looking back shouldn’t have mattered. They would say that I was a traitor, that I forgot all my jiu-jitsu, and that all the moves I did were just wrestling. This built up a lot of resentment in me, and part of me started to believe it. At this point I was so done and was ready to leave jiu-jitsu and never look back. This feeling would stay with me , on and off for years.

  Then I spotted a young kid named Denny Prokopos at the PAL regional wresting tournament. We got to talking about how he was going to fly to LA after the event to take a private with Eddie Bravo. We exchanged phone numbers and started working out in San Carlos at Marco Nascimento’s the following week . Denny eventually left and I stayed with Marco for several months more. Marco had a key role in my jiu-jitsu because he presented a different approach to BJJ, and I have to say he opened my eyes on how to learn. I will always be greatful for that. The only difference between us was that where I was in my life I needed to compete, and he was focused on building his academy so I had to go out on my own. Without sounding like a cliche, I would have to say it was in my jiu-jitsu DNA to go out on conquests. I couldn’t help it, I was programmed this way. I continued learning in leaps and bounds, and was headed back to the ring. I had found my love for the art again.

 

To be continued…

5/7/09 – The Day I get my Black Belt

Here’s a pic of Kyle, Rodney, and myself as they give me a great gift.

just plain awesome...

10BC Rejuven8′s

Here goes my second pair of shoes that are the same type that r offered in the Nike 10AC / Caol Uno line. Of course since they’re mine it’s 10BC. Plus, these r the same USA ones made for the 2008 US Olympic Team.

Peace,
BC

Sean learns how to swim

5/1/09 – Today marks a very proud day for me. For years I have been trying to teach my son how to swim. The only thing that was preventing him was fear.
At every previous swimming session he would say “dad, dad” with a scared tone to his voice to indicate that he didn’t want to even try.

Lately I’ve been wanting to swim as an alternative to running for conditioning. So this past weekend we went as a family to the Brisbane pool to go swimming, and again I met a little resistance from him. By the end of the day at least he was comfortable in the water but would still stay by the walls. So I figured all he needed was to go to a pool regularly, and now we have planned to go to the pool every Friday night.

For some reason today being our first Friday family swim night, he felt no pressure to perform. In 1 hour he was able to do the breast stroke, side stroke, and tread water.

In many ways when we’re old we forget how terrifying it was to learn to swim. It was so great to see, because now he has the ability to trust, and believe in himself to overcome the fear of drowning. Now I have to recognize my little boy is becoming a man.

I love u Sean!

Fine Line DC!!!

 

Fine Line DC is now open! Derrick aka D-Rock the Barber, and JJ are now located right next door to FTCC. We share the building at 6135 Mission St., Daly City. Ritchie, and Dillon are still at the original spot where it all started on San Jose Ave. in SF.  Now you can get a fresh fade, and in fighting shape all at the same spot.

;D

Congratulations, and the future…

I just wanted to say congratulations to my teammates, and friends Konrad, and Shannon “War Machine” Tello. Konrad is the father of newborn Owen Tse, the future champion of whatever he aspires to do. Shannon recently won a gold medal in Grapplers Quest’s teen intermediate division, and a silver medal in the womens beginner division.

With the new additions to families of life long Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, and the development of young Grapplers I can only see a bright future for the FTCC family.

D